Duo morphed images of women, extorted money

Bandra's Crime Branch unit has nabbed two miscreants who clicked women at Ganpati fest, later morphed images on nude bodies and blackmailed them

The many hues of Ganeshotsav make it a shutterbug's delight. But Deepak Dandekar (49) and Krishnajee Mhatre (42) had their eyes trained elsewhere.

Camera Shy! Dandekar and Mhatre in police custody. According to cops, Dandekar is also wanted in a similar case from Amravati where he had demanded Rs 3 lakh from a woman

The accused arrested yesterday from Sion by the Bandra unit of Crime Branch, and their aides, frequented various Ganpati pandals to click women enjoying the celebrations.

They would then morph the images into nude photos using resources from the internet, and then extort money from the victims.Wealthy familiesThe miscreants would first conduct background checks to ensure that the women came from wealthy families. The accused would also get pictures from a photo studio of various women and then alter them. In a recent case registered with Uran police station, the accused sent the morphed pictures to the residence of a victim and demanded for Rs 5 lakh, to be deposited in a bank account. Dandekar had used forged documents and a fictitious name Vivek Bhosle to open that account and also secure a debit card. Dandekar is also wanted in a similar case from Amravati where he had demanded Rs 3 lakh from a woman. Police have found around 60-70 morphed photos of several women and suspect that the accused had successfully extorted money from several of them.Behind the scenesCops say the miscreants would usually send a woman to click the pictures and a photo studio owner would help them with the morphing. The other accused are yet to be arrested. "The miscreants had purchased a colour printer and camera. They would identify rich families and then target women from these houses. They would alter the photos in such a way that they appeared very real," said S Satardekar, senior police inspector, Crime Branch, Bandra.He added, "Dandekar also made rubber stamps with names and phone numbers of his victims. He would mark the photos with these before sending them across to the women. The family would be perturbed by the fact that the accused had their personal details.""Police have also recovered cellphones and SIM cards that were used to call the victims and intimidate them into making the payments. Dandekar would even threaten to publish the morphed pictures on the internet. The photos were morphed using resources from a porn site which had nude images of Indian women," said Assistant police inspector S Shivalkar, Crime Branch, Unit IX.